41 year old Joseph L. Warnock was arrested Monday night and was accused of stabbing to death his estranged wife, Angela Warnock, while his two daughters hid in the closet. After Joseph Warnock, the oldest daughter called 911 and said, “daddy killed mommy”. Amazingly enough, the murder occurred two days after Angela Warnock obtained a two year extension on the protective order that restricted Mr. Warnock from contact with his wife and daughters.

Joseph L. Warnock, 41, was arrested about 9 p.m. in the same neighborhood of Brownsburg where he had once lived with his wife, Angela Warnock, 38, said Lt. Roger Call of the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Department.

The wife was found stabbed in her bed at home on Sunday night. Investigators say the couple was going through a divorce and she had a protective order requiring him to stay away from her and their daughters.

The killing came two days after the wife obtained a two-year extension on the order.

Detective Sgt. Charles Morefield said Warnock forced his way into the home through a patio door just before midnight Sunday and went to a bedroom where his wife was sleeping with the girls.

Police said that when he began stabbing his wife, the girls ran into a closet and hid there for at least 15 minutes while their father was in the home.

When he left, the 12-year-old girl called 911 and told a dispatcher “Daddy stabbed Mommy.”

The story kind of reminds us of the case of then missing 26 year old Jessie Davis who would later be found deceased. The disturbing clue of the missing persons case occurred when her two year old son said to police, “Mommy was crying,” Blake told deputies. “Mommy broke the table… Mommy’s in rug.”

Comments

This guy is a monster. He killed his estranged wife in front of their children. What a cold heartless p.o.s. he is.

Those poor children have lost both of their parents, and for what? Senseless act

My prayers go out to these precious children and to the family of the victim.

ANewGirl on
June 23rd, 2009 4:05 pm

Horrible story. Hope there are some immediate family members that can offer intervention and help these children through this difficult time.

When a deranged human being is on a mission of revenge and hatred and their final goal is murder-there is not much the intended victim can really do to protect themselves in reality. Perhaps the chance of survival increases if the intended victim has tons of money to lock themselves up in a High-Tech Fortress and hire 24-Hr. Security, however. Actually frightening if you really think about it….so are all RO’s/PO’s as useless as they paper they are printed on? Pretty much, it seems.

=(

Nancy Howard on
June 23rd, 2009 7:55 pm

I’ve known Joe since he was born and I never would have thought he would do this. Please understand that while his actions were horrid and cannot be justified, he is someone with a devil on his back. I ache for his whole extended family and certainly for his daughters. I ache for Joe as well. If there is any lesson to be learned from this situation it is to deal with emotions honestly at all times, don’t cloud them with alcohol or drugs, and when disrespect crops up between partners, to deal with it at the onset and not let it fester and grow into violence.

Brenda in Virginia on
June 23rd, 2009 8:43 pm

Nancy, I realize not only you, but many people who know killer are so surprised. We have a local case where this guy ran a jogger down with his Jeep and killed him. The friends commenting on the local sites say he “was so nice”…and same with Scott Peterson, so many people were simply amazed. Turns out they now know he also hit another women with the same vehicle who survivied.

My theory is these friends and family never saw the “real” person on the inside. They were only allowing folks to see what they manufactured on the outside and what was on the inside isn’t so nice. Take my mother-in-law for example. All “churchy”, sings in the choir, talks God all the time, but married 5 times, lived with a young lover for a while, and according to my hubby beat him relentlessly with coat-hangers or whatever she could get her hands on when she was angry for whatever. I know the REAL woman and I kept my kids away from her much as possible as they grew.

ANewGirl, if that woman had a gun, she may still be alive. Fortunately my husband and I aren’t out to do harm to one another, but if anyone else broke in my home, they’d be a few ounces heavier…whatever 6 .357 hollow points weigh! Still, I do agree any individual hell-bent on taking you out is a grave danger. Cannot be vigilant 100% of the time!

Those poor girls. Hopefully they have a loving extended family to support them as they grow.

ANewGirl on
June 24th, 2009 7:52 am

#3- I understand that “bad things” happen emotionally to what once were “good people”. The human brain can and will snap and lose all good judgement as you note—especially under the influence of drugs/alchohol. As Poster #1 pointed out—our hearts as Mothers go out to those children first and foremost and other family members having to deal with putting the pieces of these shattered lives back together.

#4- Hi, Brenda in VA:

I hear you, Sister! I too, believe in our Right to Bear Arms. It’s a controversial issue today with all the violence we live with in today’s world- but I support it 100%. To this day, I am still amazed at the power of a FireArm. When my Husband took me down to the range to practice one time, nearly knocked me on my butt. Again, I support it—as long as the priviledge is held with the proper safety measures…up to and including storage in the home. I just don’t like reading about the hundreds & hundreds of reports a year where kids/teenagers get their hands on guns in adults home and tragic accidents occur. Lastly- it is also a tough thing to live with the fact that it is waaaaaaaaaaay too easy for criminals to get their hands on illegal handguns in the Streets. Just a part of the World we live in, I guess. We all know the examples of what guns in the hands of crazed individuals are capable of doing…we’ve all read the horrifying results in the headlines. Sorry to get off topic there a bit—just did a total brain dump there for a second…but YES! I agree—anyone wants to break in my home either or threaten me or any one of my family members lives…I am going to do my best to protect myself and them as well with something that WILL stop them. I’m grateful that our Constitutional Right to Bear Arms has not been taken away from us yet.

A Texas Grandfather on
June 24th, 2009 2:20 pm

This type of crime happens all too often and proves the point that a Court Order of Restraint is mostly usless. If a woman has to go to court to get an order of restraint, she needs to get her adult family members involved in making sure she has some protection other than the police. Courts are going to have to get tough and put some of these people in jail that pose a threat to the life of others. Adult family members are going to have to let the person under a Court Order know that they will be watched at all times and then follow up by actually doing it.

Chris on
June 24th, 2009 6:23 pm

The saddest part was that Angie had just told me that she loved him even after all the abuse. She said he had been using cocaine and drinking a lot and she knew he was sick. She wanted him to get some help, she never spoke poorly of him. She had made mention that he once was a fantastic man and a wonderful father but in something inside had gone wrong. It was like he just began hating himself and lashed out at her and the girls as a result. She said that Hawaii would be nice for the girls to see and she hoped that in the meantime, he would get some help. I will continue to pray for Autumn and Lexi and I know Angie will be watching over them too!

Kim on
June 27th, 2009 4:01 pm

I have known both Joe and Angie for 13 years and Joe has been a complete and total jerk as long as I’ve known him. Angie was a genuinely nice person who saw good in all people and was determined to stay married. It took a lot of courage for her to finally separate from Joe and prepare to move her family to Hawaii. Joe had to have his final say once again. After 5 visits to rehab, several trips to jail, losing his job and begging for it back multiple times, humiliating his family over and over again, and then killing one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever known, he doesn’t deserve anything more than to rot away in prison and ultimately in HELL.

My opinion on
July 21st, 2009 1:53 am

This is truly a tragedy. Here is my take on it from the outside. I worked at ETS years ago. I knew Joe (not real well but I knew him). ETS is so full of drug users and abusers that it is not even funny. This is at least the 4th murderer that has worked there in the last 15 years. I am telling you the drug and alcohol abuse is so rampant in that place it is not even funny. I hope Angie’s family finds a way to go after them. They are at least partially responsible.

I play AAU basketball with the oldest daughter and she is moving on now she lves with her grandma and is doing just fine, but she still misses her mom

Autumn Huse on
November 5th, 2009 10:31 pm

I used to play with Autumn. I knew the youngest daughter, Lexi. I also played for Joe and knew Angie. I never would have thought that he would have done such a thing. It’s really sad to here, and quite horrifying. I hope that those two girls will make it through everything, they are truly great too. They take after their mother, who we will remember in our hearts forever.